


Going Rogue

by TheBitchyWitchyOne



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: A little comics, A little movies, Crack, Not Canon Compliant, obviously
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-16
Updated: 2015-10-06
Packaged: 2018-03-23 07:28:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3759679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBitchyWitchyOne/pseuds/TheBitchyWitchyOne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucy Malkin and Colin McTirnery came to Gotham looking to escape from their pasts. Together they may just turn the city on its head and become it's newest Rogues. </p><p>Updated when I feel like it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Lucy was about ready to give up. She had been sitting here all day and not one person had walked into the little shop. The anxiety - and yes, guilt - of not working was starting to eat at her. Normally there would be Colin for distraction, but today was her talkative coworker's day off and he had left several hours ago to do who-knew-what in the city. The silence he left in his wake was getting to her. Lucy allowed herself the luxury of a loud sigh as she looked around the empty shop. Surely The Old Man wouldn't mind if she did a bit of design work while she sat behind the register. It wasn't as if she'd be ignoring anyone. Besides, she had a few tweaks to work out in some of her latest ideas. Maybe she could even start working on the computer microframe for her latest project: an omnitool. A bit clichéd, but with the sheer level of work she did it was bothersome to keep switching between tools. Besides, Lucy was always a sucker for something that enhanced production. 

As she daydreamed Colin strutted through the rickety door of the dusty shop, looking around with little surprise at the lack of customers. He honestly couldn't understand how this place stayed open. Smiling at Lucy he walked over and leaned against the counter. "Having fun are we?" His Irish baroque rolled over her as he stood there smirking. Colin was a hopeless flirt, and as he did it to everyone Lucy soon stopped putting any stock in it.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh yes, it's been just lovely. All the people to talk to." She made a sweeping gesture to the empty room. "We've been busy, as you can see."

Colin gave a bark of laughter. "I can tell. You may get out of dusting at this rate." He knew she'd be spitting like a wet cat at that one; they both hated doing that chore. With all the clutter that seemed to appear in the antique and curiosities shop, the dust bunnies quickly grew up into the stuff of legend. The Old Man was very strict about them dusting every Tuesday. Heaven forbid any grime touch his valuable old junk! Never mind the fact that when they had first started working the place had been coated in inches of it. They had been cleaning for days before they could walk in to the shop without constantly sneezing. Lucy had mumbled once about how convenient it was that his sudden cleaning policies came into being about as soon as The Old Man had hired them. Colin had snickered all through the drawn out rant about 'frail bones' and 'respecting your elders' that had ensued. Lucy had been less amused. By the end of it she was ready to strangle The Old Man, but miraculously restrained herself.

"How will I ever go on? I might just cry…" Lucy wiped a less than convincing tear from her eye. She put her chin in her hand and looked at him with curiosity. "So what have you been doing with your temporary freedom from this place? Did you take a walk? See a movie? Rob a bank?" She was only half teasing.

"Ha," Colin crossed his arms. "You've got jokes today Luce. Here I was generously gonna offer to get us lunch. And if the money buying that lunch should have recently found its way into my possession…well. Maybe Gotham should guard its ATM's better." He waved a dismissive hand in the air, a rakish grin on his face.

Colin was the type of person who was almost always ankle deep in some kind of trouble. Luckily he was too small time to attract vigilante attention, and had no connections to make him interesting to the mob. The GCPD were another story. For a while it seemed like he couldn't go more than a week without getting busted for something. Finally, Lucy got fed up and demanded to know what was 'preventing his productivity' in his side jobs. He had explained why he couldn't scrape by with a crummy job and petty crime in Gotham the same way he had in other places; the city was already so littered with scum that the police knew exactly what to look out for. To make matters worse, they were often so fed up at their inability to bring in people from the organized crime scene that they threw the book at the people they could catch – people like Colin. Frowning, she demanded to know how he normally went about his jobs. After he ran through the basic details she had scoffed, turned on her heel and walked towards the shop's basement, mumbling to herself along the way. A bit wary, Colin had followed her, only to find that she had made a path through the clutter of things stored down there. Hidden behind a few of the larger pieces of furniture was a makeshift workshop. Colin had never seen anything like it – she had dragged an antique dining table over and had scattered bits of schematics and machinery over every available surface. Several old lamps illuminated the area and tools were strewn about the space. Still mumbling to herself, she had started to fiddle around with a half built device.

After a painfully long wait she had hummed in approval and presented him with the first of many pieces of equipment. The disk shaped object had seemed innocuous enough until she explained that it would allow him to trick most basic security systems into thinking they hadn't been tripped. He remembered that night well; it was the night she had become his gadgeteer. Not a moment too soon either. His success rate had jumped, and he was seldom caught now that he had her help and had become accustomed to the inherently suspicious city.

"Don't tell me that…" Lucy groaned. "I want to have some level of plausible deniability when the cops come around asking why the tools you've been using to hack into alarms look remarkably like a dumbed-down version of my cryptograph design. Save your preening for someone else. Unless, of course, you were going to get us Chinese food. Then you could preen all you liked." She grinned, already able to taste the pot stickers.

Colin turned mock serious and let hurt seep into his tone. "Now Miss Lucille, you have a remarkable way of making a man feel stupid and useful at the same time. Just how do you do that?" He extended his arm out and over the counter to open up the register.

Reaching under the change tray he pulled out the only thing that insured the register would never _completely_ rust shut; the takeout menus. Flipping through them to find the right one, Colin dialed the number to one of the places a few blocks over. He knew what to order from memory. Having been forbidden by The Old Man to leave the shop for lunch on the off chance that a customer should come in would do that to you eventually. He'd have gone stir crazy long ago if he had to work here by himself. It was true that Lucy could be a bit of a pain to live with, tinkering in the basement till God-knew-when more nights that not, but she was damnably useful and never put off by his cynicism. Plus she had no qualms about giving him run of the apartment for the night when he procured the attention of a woman, having long ago set up a makeshift cot in the basement for nights she just couldn't bring herself to climb the stairs. All in all she was a great roommate; it was hard to complain.

"It's a gift! And _don't call me Lucille_ ," she intoned. Bending down behind the counter she snatched up one of the clean rags and began the long task of dusting. "Remind me to tell The Old Man we're almost out of his freaky cleaning spray…and don't forget the egg rolls!" She called over her shoulder. Sighing she realized they were out of rubber gloves, the last box having been expended protecting herself from shocks as she tinkered last night. That was unfortunate. The cleaning spray that The Old Man insisted they use smelled horrible and she hated getting it all over her hands. It made them smell like a terrible mixture of ozone, nail polish remover, and lemongrass. For days it would overpower the more comforting smell of ink, cigarette smoke and machinery that had permeated her skin after years of exposure. She couldn't stand it – it gave her a crackly feeling and made her nose itch.

Their order placed, Colin grabbed a rag and joined Lucy. It might be annoying, but he never knew when he'd need her to fix something he broke or was having trouble with. It was always more handy to be on her good side, and nothing scored brownie points like helping out on his day off. He tried to stockpile good favor with his gadgeteer as often as he could. Colin could still remember the last time he made her angry, or, as he called it, The Time of the Cheetah.

The memories still made a shiver run through him.

The food arrived just about the time they were half way through. Passing takeout boxes back and forth he eventually pulled himself away from his low mien long enough to strike up a conversation. "Are we still on for after work?" He winced a bit at the implications in that statement; thankfully, Lucy either didn't register them or wasn't bothered by the wording. "I meant for the boxing. You're starting to get pretty good."

Lucy groaned over her half-finished food. "I'm not sure I'd call myself any version of 'good'. Besides, every time we practice I look like a mugging victim for hours! Not fun." The pain of a split lip or cracked ribs was a bit of a deterrent as well, if she was honest with herself. She might have had a talent for healing quickly, but it wasn't immediate. And it didn't eliminate the pain.

When they had first started boxing together it had been to learn a measure of self-defense. Lucy wasn't stupid - far from it actually. She knew what city she lived in. She also knew the Batman couldn't be everywhere; after all, this wasn't Metropolis. In times gone by she could get away with not being very prepared; she lived with her parents in a subdivision on the outskirts of town, and then on Gotham U's campus. With a little common sense she could keep the chance of danger to a minimum; not to mention her ability to 'hear' which alleyways contained the buzzing of malicious minds. But with her move to a less…put together part of town she could no longer allow herself to wander about defenseless, and Colin had been more than willing to have a sparring partner. Lucy had never been one for martial arts; in fact she felt ridiculous the one and only time she had tried to pick up ti-kwon-do in college. So, slowly but surely, she had begun to pick up the more pragmatic bare knuckle boxing that Colin offered to teach her. "However, you know how I enjoy the chance to deck you a good one…" she teased. "I think I'll be good to go once I close up shop."

"Good to hear, lass. I'll meet you at the usual place, shall I?" With a nod Colin threw away his empty containers and walked to their living space at the back of the shop.

Essentially a studio apartment that they had managed to cram themselves into, things were no less cluttered in it than out in the shop. However, between the two of them they managed to keep it in an organized sort of chaos, and Colin had lived in worse places. He sat around for a while, watching a bit of television until Lucy finally closed the shop. It was the usual nonsense; Arkham had another breakout, some reality star was in court, someone else had won the lotto. Sighing he resigned himself to channel surfing for a few hours until the real fun began.

It would be a lie if Colin said he didn't look forward to their boxing; it was so hard to find a halfway decent partner in Gotham. He had been wary of fighting with her originally (his mother's voice in his head telling him _exactly_ how she felt about him striking a woman), but damn if she didn't make a good argument for him to teach her. He did have some guilt the first time she didn't manage to block a jab to the face, but it went away fast when she showed him exactly how fast she could heal.

He would have been shocked ten years ago; now it was just a bit of a surprise. It had been the perfect time to show her his own ability with electricity, but he had held back. Nothing good ever came from showing it off. Meta humans were too new to most people for them to honestly take it in stride, but thankfully they were becoming more and more prevalent as time marched on. He had heard of a group of metas a while back who were adamant that they were the next step in evolution. Curious, he had checked out their website, but to him it sounded like the same propaganda you'd find on a skinhead site or a KKK pamphlet. It had endless ramblings on why normal humans were evil and needed to be 'exterminated'. To Colin that sounded like more trouble than it was worth, especially if metas really were the next step in evolution. If time would take care of it on its own, why bother to step in?

Checking the time, he quickly got dressed in loose clothes and started out towards the old parking lot that he and Lucy normally fought in. That was one of the main benefits to living so close to the Narrows; no one would call the cops for anything less than a body. Sometimes not even then…

It would make the plans he had for tonight go much more smoothly...

Her everlasting day seemed to finally be over with. Gleefully locking up the front door, Lucy quickly changed and got ready to meet Colin. Noticing the time she tried to hurry, grabbing a hair tie and jogging out the back door and down the street. She had just managed to wrangle her hair into a pony tail as she approached the parking lot, and was about to secure it when she was pulled violently by the elbow. Dropping her hair with the force of the yank, she let out a small yip. With her hair her face it took her a minute to realize the figure pulling her deeper into the closest alley wasn't Colin. Panic seeped into her veins and Lucy dug her heels in, beginning to struggle.

Spinning her around the man grabbed her by both arms and slammed her into the hard brick of the wall. Her head met the wall with an audible crack and her vision went white as nausea overpowered her senses. When she came back to herself she just managed to decipher the menacing croon of the thug. "Now just be calm and I won't hurt you. Much." His dirty yellow teeth smiled maliciously as his eyes swept over her form.

'Run! Run! You can run!' Her mind was screaming at her, telling her what to do, but she couldn't make her body respond. Seeing him looming over her with lust in his eyes, twice her weight and all muscle, was not helping her to stop her panic induced rigidity. Combined with the quickly blossoming headache she was getting from her new friend Mr. Wall, all of her flight instincts were screaming. Lucy opened her mouth, ready to scream with them – she would have too, if not for the swift backhand the man delivered. No doubt he had meant it to be a deterrent to her struggling, the pain from her spilt lip meant to make her thing twice about drawing too much attention to them.

Instead the blow refocused her.

The voice in her head changed, become more powerful and insistent. 'Fight! Fight! You know you can fight!' After all, how was this different from fighting with Colin? He was just as big as this thug, just as menacing. But Colin knew what to expect from her – the thug had no idea what she could do. 'You have the advantage! Now fight!'

Summoning her courage she slammed her forehead into the thug's chin, sending him back with a yelp. Lucy would have smiled if she hadn't felt blood dribbling from her mouth. Curling her hands into fists she quickly decked him as hard as she could. "Bitch!" he screamed, holding what looked like a broken nose. She allowed herself a quick moment to feel proud before taking a better stance. With a flick he pulled out a knife, but Lucy was too focused – and adrenalin fueled – to be afraid any longer.

They moved around each other for what seemed like an eternity. Had she ever had a life before this? Or had she always been fighting in this alley? It didn't matter; she could clearly see her victory approaching. Where his strengths were his size and weapon, hers were speed and practice. She dodged the knife when she could, but felt it bite into her flesh more than once. Her left cheekbone, right forearm, and left hip would have new decorations, but she would be fine. She couldn't say the same for him.

She left him there in the alley, nose broken, various body parts beginning to swell in a swirl of purple bruises, a snapped wrist from when she had wrenched his knife away from him and buried it in his thigh, and - she thought – a cracked rib or two. Lucy was limping out of the alleyway, wanting nothing more than to go home and lick her wounds, when she saw him. Colin. And the bastard was smirking.

Slowly, he started to clap. "Well done. I honestly expected that I'd have to step in at some point. Or at the very least for you to scream; not that it would have really helped you, considering the side of town we live on." He shrugged off his jacket and slowly started to move forward. "Here."

Snarling she smacked his hands away. "You've been watching?! Why didn't you help me?!" She shoved him, ready to kick his ass the same way she had the man in the alley. A cry left her lips as a shot of pain struck her like lightning. She let out a stream of expletives. Why did her hands hurt so badly?

"Calm down. You're probably pretty banged up, no need to make it worse. No doubt you'll start to feel it now that the adrenaline's wearing off," he said with his hands out in a placating gesture. Colin had expected her to be angry, but the murderous glint in her eyes was a bit unsettling.

"Calm down? _Calm down?!_ Oh, I'll show you calm!" In a single fluid motion Lucy pushed out with both her hands and her mind. It was immensely satisfying to watch her bastard of a roommate fly back several feet and land flat on his ass. "Care to explain why you didn't even bother to lift a finger to help me?" She began to register that it was difficult to breathe. More than difficult actually; downright agonizing.

Colin looked at her in shock. 'She has telekinesis? She has telekinesis?! Why the blasted hell did she need me to teach her how to throw a punch if she had telekinesis?! Women!' Putting his panic and confusion to the side he focused on trying to calm her down. Better to pacify the angry meta lady than face her wrath. "Luce, don't be stupid." He winced; not a great start. Insulting her intelligence may not have been the best way to make her not want to murder him. "No matter how many times you throw a punch at me it will never be the same as having to fight a stranger who's attacking you. Better you be forced to do it with me there to intervene than having to do it without a net. So you panicked in the beginning, big deal. You pulled yourself out of it. Next time you won't panic, which is good because chances are I won't be there." 'Please don't force push me again, please don't force push me again…'

She felt the anger drain out of her as he spoke. 'He's right, damn him.' "So you organized this whole thing? As some kind of sick test? Bastard."

He nodded and stood up. "You're right, I am a bastard. But now you've proven your ability to the only person who matters – yourself. You won't hesitate again, and with any luck you won't get as injured." He offered his jacket again and this time she reached for it. She tried to put it on, but as she stretched out her arms she dropped the jacket with a hiss. Clutching her chest, she almost blacked out as pain ripped through her. When she came back to herself Colin was holding her up and every inch of her hurt. Trying to stand on her own, Colin refused to let her go. "Easy now. You're hurt worse than I thought. I know you don't want to hear this, but you need to see a doctor." She opened her mouth to protest, but he was having none of it. "Don't argue Luce. Even with your healing factor, you'll need stitches for those knife wounds."

Not waiting for an answer, Colin scooped her unto his arms. Gritting her teeth against the pain of being jostled around in his arms, Lucy attempted to sort out her night. Colin was her friend, one of the only ones she had and certainly the one she saw most. They worked together, shared an apartment together, boxed together. She even helped him steal things, in a roundabout way. And tonight he had betrayed her.

Perhaps that was over dramatic. She mused to herself. He did make a very good argument. Lucy tried to look at it from his perspective. Sure, she had been progressing. But she hadn't be confident in her ability until she limped her way out of that alley. Would she have made it through an attack like that? Probably. Could she have done it without help or serious injury? That was less certain. And he was right – there was no telling if anyone would be around to help her if her first fight with someone else had happened another way. It was clever of him to set this up, force her test her mettle in a way that felt real to her without actually being all that dangerous. The last vestiges of her anger slipped away into the cool night. There was nothing else for it. She would forgive him.


	2. Chapter 2

The clinic was busy. Druggies and thugs from most of the major gangs milled about, all in some state of injury. Placing her in one of the cheap plastic chairs in the waiting area as gently as he could, Colin went and checked in with the receptionist. They had gone over a story on the way in, and had decided the best idea was to stick close to the truth. As far as anyone here was going to be concerned, Lucy had been jumped near her home on the way to meet her roommate. Simple, believable, and easy to remember. She had thankfully stopped bleeding, but her healing factor meant her bruises were coming in fast, turning her a garish mix of black and blue. He winced a bit in sympathy, but the bruises made the nurse take pity on her and bump her up the list so he supposed it wasn't all bad. She'd look like a wreck just long enough to see the doctor, and they would be on the way home by the time she really started to heal. Going back to sit with her Colin began to feel a bit badly for not stepping in, but he knew that it wouldn't have helped her in the long run if he would have. She needed to know that she could take care of herself and, as fucked up as it was, this was the only way he could think of to show her she could.

A nurse poked her head around the door that he knew from experience led to four little run down exam rooms. "Lucille Malkin?" Lucy winced as she started to stand. The nurse would assume it was from pain, but he knew it was at the sound of her full name. Trying not to laugh, he stood up and pulled her to her feet, letting her brace herself on him as they walked through the door. The nurse led them to one of the exam rooms and took Lucy's vitals. As she did so, Lucy recounted the edited story of what had happened that night, telling the nurse that the thug had run off as Colin appeared on the scene. The nurse listened with detached professionalism before leaving with a quick "Dr. Tompkins will be right in."

"I hope so," Lucy muttered. "All I want to do is lie down and sleep for days." She probably would too. Healing always took a lot out of her, and having to heal this much damage in addition to having used her telekinesis would require a massive recuperation time.

"No doubt. But while we wait for the good doctor, maybe you could explain a few things to me. Like your sudden ability to use the force?" Colin piped up from the chair in the corner.

She sighed. "I thought that might come up. My sob story's a bit long though. Sure you're up for it?" She could see him nod, his full attention on her. "Fine," she grumbled. "But I'll expect you to share yours afterword."

"I think I can manage that," he said with a quirk of his lips. "Now stop stalling, woman."

She took a moment to gather her thoughts, and then began. "I was put into an orphanage on the outskirts of Gotham when I was a baby. My mother was pregnant with me and had some sort of accident that snapped her neck. The paramedics arrived in time to deliver me, but only just. It was supposed to be a temporary stay, just until they could find my father, you know? But a few days turned into a few weeks, and they never found him. I stayed there until I was three. The orphanage was terribly funded, but there were tons of kids there." "Doesn't the Wayne Foundation donate money to orphanages in town?" Colin broke in, confused. Lucy scoffed. "They fund plenty of local boy homes, but I guess they're not all that interested in girls. From what I've been told, the orphanage I was in never got the attention of many charities in Gotham. We were all slightly undernourished and I was always sick. It wasn't anyone's fault really; I was a preemie, and there wasn't much they could afford to do but give me cold medicine and an extra blanket. Thankfully I was a damn cute kid – I got adopted fairly quickly." Lucy tried to grin, but thought better of it when she felt the sting in her lip. She would have continued speaking, but Dr. Tompkins chose that moment to walk in.

After introductions, the good doctor went through the same round of questions as the nurse and, after some light palpitations, she shook her head. "Ms. Malkin, I'm afraid you have several broken bones in your hands, along with what feels like three fractured ribs. In addition, some of your lacerations will need stitches. I'd like to take a few x-rays of your hands and ribs, but I'm afraid I can't do much more than brace them and prescribe some painkillers."

"I understand, Doctor." Lucy smiled softly, careful of her still cracked lip.

"Good. Now, if you'd just remove your shirt, I'll stitch you up." Dr. Tompkins turned to Colin. "Would you mind giving us a minute? You can wait right outside."

Colin nodded, relieved that he wouldn't have to stay while she took her clothes off. He liked Lucy, but not like that; besides, by now some of her less serious bruises would have started to turn into the almost healed greenish-yellow stage. That was good for Lucy, but the doctor didn't know about the healing factor and would assume they were older. No doubt she would jump to conclusions, and Colin didn't want to be there for that. He shut the door firmly behind him.

Gingerly, the doctor helped Lucy strip off her outer layers until she was sitting on the exam table in only her underwear. She knew she looked bad as soon as she saw the shock behind the professionalism in the doctor's expression. Glancing down at herself she understood why. To an outsider her body was a canvas with abuse painted onto it. Wordlessly, the doctor numbed the areas around her knife wounds and started to stitch her up. Afterwards she rolled in a portable x-ray machine and began snapping pictures of her ribs and hands. Lucy was more than a little surprised that the doc hadn't commented about her half healed bruises yet. She assumed that she'd at least have to deal with a 'do you need help' or 'would you like to press charges'.

"Not all of those bruises look recent." There it was. Lucy was impressed with Dr. Tompkins' nonchalance; she never took her eyes off what she was doing. How many times did she see this a day? A month? Lucy tried not to think about it.

"It's not what you think, doc. I'm a bit of a klutz." She wanted to roll her eyes. That sounded weak even to her.

Doctor Tompkins just made a noncommittal hum. "I see. Well, if you grow tired of being a klutz," She looked up and made eye contact with Lucy. "You know where to find me. I'd be more than willing to help you."

Lucy nodded. She could do nothing but let the other woman think she was being abused. She couldn't tell Dr. Tompkins the truth. There was no way in hell she would ever tell anyone she didn't know about her meta abilities - that was just asking for trouble.

After applying a few splints and being given a prescription for painkillers she's never use (along with a card for a local woman's shelter) Lucy was declared free to go. She met Colin in the hall and together they left the clinic, headed for home. "So," Colin started a few blocks later. "I believe you were spilling your guts to me?"

Lucy groaned. "I just had to get stitches from a doctor who thought you were abusing me. How about a little quid pro quo?"

Colin laughed. "I supposed that's fair. I was born in Ireland, as you already know. Dublin, to be more specific. Believe it or not, there was a time when I wanted to be a superhero." Lucy laughed so hard she had to stop walking. Colin was a thief, the idea of him in spandex and a cape was too much for her to handle. At first Colin was insulted, but the look of pain on her face as she jostled her injured ribs was payback enough so he let it slide. "Are you done?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. She had the decency to blush, trying to hide her smile. "Sorry."

They started walking again as he continued. "I discovered early that I wasn't normal. I have my own meta ability, much to my mother's horror. I can control small bursts of electricity. When I was a kid I'd pull it out of wall sockets and play with it. Drove my mum mad." He chuckled for a moment before the smile slipped away from his face. "I was seven when I started my first electrical fire. I didn't mean to do it, you see. My mum and I were living in a crappy apartment building at the time and there was no telling how old the wiring was. One day I was just trying to amuse myself after school while my mum ran out to the store. Before I knew it there was fire everywhere and I couldn't get out. Just as I gave up hope I was surrounded by a green light and carried out of the third story apartment, straight into the arms of my mother. Apparently The Green Lantern was in town for some kind of conference - he saved my life. I promised myself then and there that I would be a hero too when I grew up." He grinned at her with more than a little irony. "As you can tell, things didn't quite work out."

Lucy looked over at him, completely absorbed in his tale. "What happened?"

Colin ran his hand through his hair. "Well, we were never that well off. Mum did all she could for us, but it seemed like there was never any money left at the end of the month. She insisted I do well in school and tried to make me participate in everything. I was so busy being a kid that I didn't even know she was sick until she was dying. I think that was what she wanted. I was seventeen when she finally died. Cancer." His voice faltered for a moment. Lucy didn't acknowledge the moment he took to mourn, just waited for him to go on.

"After that I couldn't stay in Ireland. I moved to Coast City for college and tried to start working as a hero. Unfortunately I was terrible at it. Every attempt I made to be heroic either went miserably or failed to be credited to me. Even though I left my calling card every time!" He dug into his pocket and pulled something out. Passing it to her, Lucy realized she was holding a AA battery. She would have laughed again if she didn't see how serious his face was. "This is your calling card?" He nodded. "Don't you….think it's a bit small? Wouldn't most people just think it was…junk lying around?"

"That's the beauty of it!" He rushed to explain. "People think its junk until they check and see that it's fully charged! Then they know that it was my alter ego – The Battery!" He looked so proud that she couldn't bring herself to explain that not even Batman would take that much interest in a battery lying on the floor of a crime scene. Best to leave it for another day. Besides, he had started talking again. "Anyway, in the end I got so fed up with everything that I left. I dropped out of college and drifted for a while. I picked things up here and there, learning to pickpocket and pulling a few jobs. Eventually I ended up here in Gotham. My cash had just about dried up and after the third ATM I failed to knock over I got a job with you working for The Old Man. And here I am." He shrugged, finishing his story just as they made it to the back door to the shop that opened directly into their living area. Opening the door he ushered her inside before making her sit on the couch. "Now how about you tell me the end of your saga while I make you make you some dinner?"

She was exhausted, but the idea of food made her stomach growl loudly. "Well let's see," she began. "I told you I was adopted, right? Well my parents are scientists. They're from this little town in the middle of the Mojave Desert. The company they work for had them doing some work with Wayne Industries at the time. They'd been living in Gotham for about a year when they decided to start a family. My mom couldn't get time off work though, so they decided to adopt a kid instead." Colin side-eyed her. What kind of company requited you to put in notice when you wanted to have a kid? Lucy didn't notice. "I swear, I've been around science all my life. I practically grew up in labs; some of my best memories are of tinkering with one of my parents or helping them perform experiments. They noticed I was gifted around the same age your mom noticed you." She paused as Colin handed her a plate of grilled cheese sandwiches. Digging in, she continued.

"You've seen most of my powers in action. What you haven't seen is I have a low level of telepathy. At first my parents just thought I was insightful, but then I began to answer question before they asked them. They were shocked, but very excited; I assumed it was because they were scientists. They did all they could to help me control it, giving me projects and games that were meant to help me. I has just started school and hearing everyone's thought in my head left me drained and mentally exhausted." Lucy winced at the memory. To this day she despised crowds. "At first I was afraid of my new powers, but I learned to cope. I would have been content for things to have ended there, but after the fourth time denied sweets whisked through the air towards me or objects shook and flew about during temper tantrums my parents were forced to concede that I also possessed telekinesis. I will say, it was a good thing I developed a healing ability. Otherwise things flying top speed at my head would have left a more permanent mark." She snickered a bit and started on her second sandwich.

. "With time and practice I learned how to better use my abilities. I can usually use them without fear of collapsing from exhaustion or losing control, so long as I don't over exert myself. Unfortunately, tonight has been a bit trying."

"So you've been in Gotham your whole life?" Colin queried. He could tell he touched a sensitive subject as a look of nervousness overtook her face.

"Not exactly," she whispered. Finding her voice she carried on "When I was thirteen we moved back to my parent's home town. It wasn't great." she shook her head. "Anyway. I graduated high school at fifteen and moved back to Gotham to go to college for engineering. Right now I'm finishing my Masters in Quantum Physics, and once that happens I either have to start paying back my student loans or go for a doctorate. Either way I figured it'd be a good idea to have a little money put away, so I applied for a job with The Old Man."

Colin leaned back in his chair and gave a low whistle. "Alright then. But why didn't you get a job in one of the fancy labs around town?"

Lucy finished off her sandwich and chugged a bottle of water before answering. "It's gonna sound ridiculous, but it would be too much work. I wanted time to design and tinker around with my own ideas instead of having to do research on someone else's." She shrugged and grinned at him. "Besides, how could I pass up a friendship like this?"

He wiggled his eyebrows at her. "I knew you couldn't resist me!" She laughed as she slowly got to her feet. He shooed her towards the small area around her bed that was shielded with a curtain. "Go to bed lass, I'll cover your shifts until you wake up."

Waving goodnight Lucy was asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this has taken so long. I've just gone through a cross country move and all that entails. My bad.

Lucy woke to a dry mouth and silence. Rolling over she cracked open an eye long enough to check the date and time on her phone. She'd been asleep for three days.

Ugh.

Summoning her willpower, she stumbled her way out of bed and roughly three feet past her 'iron curtain', as Colin called the fabric that separated her bed from the rest of the room. Taking the last few steps into their tiny bathroom, Lucy eased into the shower. As the hot water cascaded over her she took stock of her body. The knife wounds had become thin lines of white scar tissue and her bruises were long gone. Flexing her hands and breathing deep told her that her fractures were all but healed.

Lucy stayed under the warm spray until she could feel the worst of the grime and leftover ointments from the clinic wash away. As the hot water gradually cooled, she soaped up and scrubbed herself down, taking extra care to get the built up oil out of her hair. Shutting off the now cold water, Lucy toweled off and took the scant half step to get to the sink. Taking a look in the mirror she immediately noticed the new scar high on her cheek bone. It was faint, thank goodness, and with any luck it would disappear given some time.

Just as a mouth full of minty toothpaste foam started to make her feel human again, Colin knocked on the door. Toothbrush still in hand, she cracked the door open. "I thought I heard you get up; I've got some clothes for you, lass. And there's lunch when you're done turning our bathroom into a surgery."

She accepted the clothes with a wince at the reminder, and he chucked at her before walking off. She had gotten stitched up at the clinic, and now the stitches would have to come out. Sighing, she rinsed out her mouth and set to work. Lucy knew from experience that this was going to be uncomfortable; one last sharp flare of pain as she pulled the stitches out of her flesh. At least there were only a few of them this time. She could remember having to pluck out dozens of them after a longer-than-normal company picnic the summer she turned fourteen. This wouldn't be anywhere near as excruciating as that horror fest.

Grabbing the (extensive) first aid kit from under the sink, Lucy pulled out the antiseptic, forceps, and surgical scissors. With great care she snipped the tight little knots and tugged the silk out of her side. As the last stitch came out she swabbed the already healing holes with the antiseptic and threw on the clothes Colin had handed her. Putting the first aid kit back together and shoving it in it's place, she wrapped her damp towel around her head and strolled out to take a seat at the fold out table for two that was attached to the wall near the fridge and ancient stove.

"Nice to see you again, Sleeping Beauty."

She rolled her eyes at Colin as he walked in carrying two deli bags. "Shut up. What'd I miss?"

Colin passed her one of the bags. "I sold something."

"That's not so remarkable; you steal lots of things." She took a monstrous bite.

"No, woman, _sold._ I _sold_ something. In the shop."

Lucy paused mid-bite. "Bullshit."

Colin laughed. "No really! Captain Marvel -"

"Bullshit!"

He held up a placating hand. "Capt-"

" _Bullshit_!"

"CAPtain-fucking-Marvel came in and bought a fucking book! Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Luce, have a little faith!" 

"You're telling me that Captain Marvel waltzed into this craphole, browsed around and bought something, then walked his shining, heroic self out the door?" She asked. 

"As God is my witness, he did." Colin affirmed as he picked the tomatoes off his sandwich. "Would I lie to you?"

"Absolutely."

He flung the red fruit at her face.

Lucy laughed, and ate it. "Fine, fine. Captain Marvel bought a book. What was he like? What was the book about?" She tore into her meal with relish.

"Honestly? He was a tosser. A right prick - at first I thought he was there to arrest me, yah? But then he struts about like he owns the place, this gaggle of people with him." Colin put on a high pitched voice. "'Oh Captain Marvel, you look so handsome!' 'Oh Captain, you're so noble!' 'Oh, oh, oh!' On and on they go, and he's just eatin' it up! Eventually I attract his attention and tell him to but something or get out. He doesn't like that though, gets real nasty. I guess he bought the book out of ego or some shite; made me  really kowtow to him. Something about Solomen's Temple, I think?"

Lucy swallowed the massive bite in her mouth. "Huh. He sounds like a jerk...odd. I always got the feeling he was kinda... I don't know. Not nice, exactly. Naïve maybe? Like a big kid, you know?"

Colin shrugged. "You never can tell with those superhero types. Always get too big for their britches in the end."

They ate in companionable silence for a time, before Colin broke it. He put down his sandwich and caught her eye. "Luce. We've been rooming together for a while now and- well that is- you see I was wondering if you might...uh..."

Lucy looked at him like he was growing a gerble out of his ear. "Are you proposing?"

"What? No! I mean, yes, but not like that! I've got this job, you see. And you've been real good about providing toys-"

"Oh, is that all?" She asked, relieved. "I can probably whip something up for my usual price."

Colin shook his head. "No, I don't need gadgets. I need the Gadgeteer." She looked shocked. He pressed on before she could object. "Just the once. It's a jewelry shop a few blocks over, but it's a two man job and I'm on the outs with Steve and Ole One-Eye or I'd ask them. It'll be fast, in and out, and you'll get a proper cut of the profits - fifty fifty!" He looked at her in desperation. "Please Luce? Just the one job. I'll fence the goods and you've got a nice nest egg to sit on."

Lucy leaned back and looked at the ceiling, considering. She had never broken the law this blatantly before and the thought of doing so was more than a little bit frightening. But then, she did need the money in a bad way. Colin wouldn't screw her over, and if he did...well, she knew where he slept. "In and out?" She asked. 

He beamed and nodded. "In and out."

* * *

 

It was not in and out. 

Oh sure, it was supposed to be. They had planned on it going like that, Lucy going over every last detail and possibility before they had done the deed. But the brand-spanking-new alarm system was state of the art, and while Lucy beat in in record time, it had apparently been taken as a challenge by Gothem's resident catburgler. 

Emphasis on the cat. 

Who, it seemed, did not appreciate competition. Especially what she seemed to consider 'amateur' competition. Things would have no doubt turned out nastier had the cat not in turn attracted the attention of a certain bat. Say what you would about her, but Lucy was pretty sure she had luck on her side. 

Whether it was good luck or bad luck remained to be seen.

So now here she was, sprinting down the cracked pavement with Colin and a bag full of loose gems, and pretty sure that Robin was following them from above. "Do a job with me, you said! It'll be in and out, you said!"

"At least you know I'm good for an exciting night out." He panted from beside her. 

"Fuck off."

They ran until they thought they would collapse, darting down streets at random and doing all they could to lose their tail. Eventually they slowed, out of breath and out of ideas. Panting, tey looked at one another, sure that a vigilante was about to drop on their heads. Nothing happened. Straining their ears over the pounding of their hearts they were met only by the sounds of the city at night. No Batman apeared out of the shadows, no Boy Wonder waved a staff at them. They were safe.

"Holy fucking shit. Did we get away?" Lucy asked, completely incredulous.

Colin paused for a moment. "We must have; that was too good an entrance line to skip."

Lucy looked at him and busted out laughing. They took off the masks they had worn during the heist as well as the dark pullovers and stuck them in a backpack with the gems nestled safely inside. Then, taking stock of the street signs, they turned and calmly walked home. Neither spoke again until they were in their back room. 

Colin finally spoke up. "I'll fence these in a week or so. Catwoman kinda screwed us over, but I think we still grabbed enough to make a nice profit." He looked at Lucy with a grin. "Nice job with the alarm by the way. That was good work...you know the two of us work pretty-"

"No," she said from her face down position between the couch and the television.

"What?"

Lucy rose up onto her elbows. "I said no. I'm not doing this again, I'm not cut out for it."

"Aw, come on Luce! We were great out there!"

"Colin, we were almost caught by The Batman."

"Technically we were almost caught by Robin." Colin said grinning at her. "Embarrassing."

She snorted. "Very."

"Alright Luce. Just the one job. But if you change your mind you know were to find me."

* * *

 

The payoff was smaller than they had planned on it being, but they still make out with a few thousand each. Lucy invested it under several different names and Colin stashed it away in some hidden place only he knew about. No one came looking for them; they had barely even made the news, and then only because Catwoman had been there. As the weeks turned into months they went back into their normal routine. They worked for The Old Man, who they saw just enough to know he was still alive and who, despite having crossed over the line from old to ancient, still managed to sneak up on them regularly. The shop stayed just as full of jun and just as empty of customers. Colin did the not so occasional side job, and Lucy made him the occasional widget. As the semester ended she finished her degree.

Giving in to her vanity she decided that this time she would walk the stage. Her parents swore up and down that they would be there and promptly forgot about it as their newest experiment progressed. They called the morning of, to apologize and tell her they would see her for Thanksgiving this year, which Lucy knew meant they would call her and promise to be there for Christmas. She hung up the phone with exasperated fondness, having never expected them to show up in the first place. Colin came, and surprisingly so did The Old Man, who stayed long enough to watch her cross the stage and to gripe about having to close the shop for the day so that they could all be there. The ceremony itself was a nice one, but afterwords as she was congratulated by a few people she felt a sudden unease. It was with a sense of horror that she realized why. 

Normally in large crowds she stopped paying attention to her telepathy, having long ago figured out how to push it down to a small buzz in the back of her mind. But long years spent in near constant fight or flight mode had made ever her subconcious recognise this mind immedieatly. 

It was her parent's boss.

"Well, well. You look stunning Lucille," he said as he walked up to her. Her other well wishers drifted away and suddenly they were alone together in the crowd. 

Lucy's back straightened. "I would prefer if you called me Ms. Malkin."

The man frowned, good naturedly dangerous. "Is that any was to talk to such an old family friend, Lucielle? What would your parents say?"

She had just enough self control not to flinch as he mentioned her parents. He knew he had struck a nerve, no need to give him the satisfaction of her reaction as well. "What can I do for you Mr. Cunningham?"

He grinned maliciously. "Just Steve, Lucielle. The company and I are so very proud that you've finished your schooling."

"Actually I was thinking of persuing my doctorate," she remarked casually.

Cunningham's face turned sour. "Yes, I remember your parents saying something to that effect. I'm curious as to where you'll find the funds."

She balked at him. "What are you saying?"

Cunningham brushed a nonexistant speck of dust from the shoulder of his suit jacket. "The company has put a lot of money into funding your education. We believe it's time you paid back your debts."

"Paid back?"

"With interest." He looked at her like a shark looked at a baby seal. "

She kept her face as neutral as she could. "How much are we talking about?"

"Including your tuition and board? It comes out to quite a bit, but your parents have worked for us for such a long time. I'be been allowed to bring it down to a neat half million."

"Half a million dollars?!" Her composure broke. 

"Oh yes, I'm afraid so," Cunningham's tone was apologetic, but his eyes were vicious. "Of course there is another option..." He handed her a manilla packet. As soon as she touched it she felt ill. "You could always work off your debt to us. You'd be a valued asset. Do think about it. You have the standard six months to either accept or pay. Congratulations on your degree," he said, leaving her standing there aghast.

And so it came to this. She knew she would have to pay back her student loans eventually, but a half million dollars? In six months? Impossable! There was no way in hell Lucy would ever be able to make that much money and Cunningham knew it. The fact of the matter was they didn't want her to pay them off; they wanted her to work for them. At first it would only be for a few years, but any perceived lack of productivity, any percentage of error would add to her contract. She would be stuck working for them for life. And then there was the matter of her parents. If she refused to work and couldn't pay then what would they do to them?

As Lucy stood there in shock and uncertainty she was approached again. A man cleared his throat beside her and she jumped. "Excuse me, but are you Lucille Malkin?"

She shook her thoughts away and put on a smile with praticed ease. "Yes, I am. And you are?"

"Lucius Fox. I'm-"

"The CEO of Wayne Enterprises!" she exclaimed. "What can I do for you Mr. Fox?"

"You can look this over." He said, offering her a packet of papers.

She glanced down at them, then looked back up in shock. "This is a job offer."

"Not your first of the day, as I can see. But I believe you'll find it worth considering. one of your professors is an old friend of mine. She tells me youre a very skilled engineer as well as a brilliant physicist. The R&D department has had a distinct lack of fresh blood lately. I'd like you to remedy that."

Lucy gapped at him. 

Lucius smiled and she noticed immedietly that it reached his eyes. It was refreshing. "Read it through, and give me a call if you're interested." He handed her a card, shook her hand, and walked away.

Lucy left in a daze so intence that Colin had to stop her from walking into the street more than once. Back at the shop he finally asked her what the hell was going on.

Lucy shook her head. "If we're gonna talk about this then I need a drink. Or twelve." 

Colin nodded. "Alright then lass. Stay here, I'll be right back."

Colin went out the back door and came back an hour later with two handles of vodka and a container of powdered drink mix. Walking in he found Lucy watching Dispicable Me on the couch, still wearing her graduation robe. He snorted. "Really?"

She shrugged. "It was this or that crab fishing show."

Colin pulled a face. "You made the right decision."

Colin made up the drink mix, added ice, and put the whole pitcher on the table along with the vodka and two moderatly clean glasses. They sat drinking as she filled him in on the two offers she had received. 

They were more than half way through the first bottle when Colin cut in. "I don't get it Luce. So you made a deal with the devil, we all do. Take the fancy Wayne Enterprises job and pay the bastard off."

"'s not that simple!" She slurred. "No job pays that well! They want all their money in six months!" She left off the implied 'or else' at the end;he heard it anyway. 

"Jeaus, Mary, and Joseph, how are you going to do that?"

She groaned and put her face in her hands. All of her assets came up to around fifteen thousand dollars. If she worJed her ass of at Wayne Enterprises she might be able to come up with another twenty before the deadline, but that was like dropping a penny in a stream and expecting a tsunami. Mindlessly she watched Gru fire a lazer gun at a carnival worker. All at once she had the answer. "Hey!" She yelled as she shot to her feet. 

"What?!" Colin asked in surprise. 

"I've got it! We can do this!" Lucy pointed at the television.

Colin glanced at the television and looked at her funny. "What, steal cable?"

"No! Be supervillains!" 

Colin started laughing. 

"I'm serious!"

"You're drunk."

"That too! But think about it! You've got the street smarts, I've got the planning ability. We're both metas with useful powers. Together we could pull it off!"

"Ignoring for the moment that this is insane, what's in it for me?" Colin asked. 

She shrugged. "Lotsa money."

"I'm in."

"Perfect! Now all we need are some minions and a lair."

Colin snorted. "I think this is all the lair we can afford unles you've get a secret room in the basement. As for minions why don't you just build some?"

Lucy giggled, flipping back down on the couch. "What, like those?" She asked, pointing to the movie. 

"I don't think even you can make sentient peanut people. In fact I'll bet you a thousand dollars right now that you can't do it."

Lucy looked at him, insulted. "You're on!"

 

* * *

They woke the next morning in Lucy's basement lab. Colin was stretched out on the cot and Lucy was asleep over her table, drooling onto some papers. At first they weren't sure what had woken them, but they soon realized it was the chattering of four creatures as they scurried around the room. They were almost three feet tall and mostly yellow with green backs. Lucy and Colin looked at them in fascinated horror. Mutely Colin picked up a pen, quickly scribbled something down, and handed Lucy an IOU. 


End file.
